Karl Rodriguez

Week 4

English 201

Everything’s an Argument

         I was only able to find the reading entitled “Everything’s an Argument.”  I couldn’t find the link for the other reading.  So in “Everything’s an Argument,” they go on to say that an “argument can be any text- written, spoken, aural or visual- that expresses a point of view.”  That pretty much covers all communication.  In other words, we are constantly trying to make an argument for something even when we don’t think we are.  The reading states that the Red Sox baseball cap you wear, to a Rolex watch to a belated birthday card is making an argument.  Technically, this is correct.  The baseball cap is making the argument that you like the Red Sox.  The Rolex is saying that you have a lot of money, and a belated birthday card is saying that you are still wishing someone a happy birthday even though you know it’s late. 

            Then the reading goes into detail about different kinds of arguments.  There are arguments to convince.  These are pretty much self-explanatory.  You are trying to convince another party that what you are saying is correct.  You would have some kind of evidence for a convincing argument.  Another argument is the argument to persuade.  This is not only trying to convince the other party that you are correct, but also trying to move them to action.  This happens a lot with politics.    There are many other different types of arguments. 

            After explaining what different type of arguments there are, the reading then went into detail about what goes into an argument.  This is everything from using facts, criteria, the audience and context.  Lastly, the reading discusses Aristotle’s 3 ways to appeal to an audience.  They are pathos, ethos and logos.  Pathos appeals to the emotions of a person.  Ethos is an ethical appeal, and logos appeals to logic.